Many individuals participate in sports both as a pastime, as well as a hobby. As can be appreciated, it is important when participating in a particular sport to develop a proper technique in playing the sport to increase an individual's level of skill, as well as to prevent injuries.
Therefore, many techniques have been developed for assisting an individual in improving their skill level. With respect to a sport involving hitting a ball, a number of different devices have been developed to enable an individual to better improve his or her performance. For example, and with respect to a racquet sports such as tennis, racquetball or squash, U.S. Pat. No. 2,003,558 to An teaches the use of a training device provided with a uni-directional flexible spinner. This device includes a ball mounted on a flexible support column. In use, the individual strikes the ball at a top most position, forcing the ball away from the individual. Once the ball provided on the support column reaches a first position away from the top-most position, it returns from this position to a position closer to the individual. At this point, the ball then oscillates back and forth until it again reaches the top-most position. During the use of this training device, the individual endeavors to strike the ball when it returns to the top-most position. This type of device allows an individual to practice his or her technique in properly striking the ball without the necessity of including a partner in the training technique. However, the device described in the An patent does not afford the individual with any indication that the ball was properly struck.